


Shadow of the Day

by HPFandom_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Drug Use, F/M, M/M, Romance, Self-Harm, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-10-15
Updated: 2007-10-15
Packaged: 2018-09-29 19:28:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10142303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HPFandom_archivist/pseuds/HPFandom_archivist
Summary: Sometimes goodbye is the only way.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from SeparatriX, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [HP Fandom](http://fanlore.org/wiki/HP_Fandom_\(archive\)), which was closed for health and financial reasons. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [HP Fandom collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hpfandom/profile).

_**Beta:** – thank you, dear. You’re a gem!  
 **Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling and her publishers. The title and lyrics of _Shadow Of The Day_ belong to Linkin Park and their producers. The author of this work receives no profit from it. No copyright or trademark infringement is intended.   
**A/N:** Inspired by the Linkin Park song _Shadow Of The Day__. Link to the lyrics can be found here. This is not my usual, lovelies. 

 

He wanted to be comfortable, in our home and in our bed, not some anonymous patient in a hospital room, and I could not deny him that wish. As I stared out at the churning sea I listened as Ron and Hermione all but begged him to hold on, to stay for just a little longer. Didn’t they realize that he’d held on for as long as possible, far longer than anyone else would have ever been able to? Their pleading, although understandable, was futile. Trying to stop this inevitability was like trying to stop the tide.

The sun was suddenly hidden from view by a bleak cloud cover and a stiff breeze blew through the open window. Not wanting the room to get too cold, I pulled the window closed and lowered the blinds, hiding the gloomy grey that matched the desolation filling my very soul. Turning round, our eyes met and he offered me a small, weak smile.

Turning his attention once more to his two closest friends, he said quietly, “Please. Please don’t. We knew this would happen.”

Hermione smiled sadly down at him. “You’re ready for your next great adventure, aren’t you, Harry?” she asked, even as tears filled her eyes.

Grinning faintly, Harry replied, “Yeah, Hermione. Yeah, I am.” Reaching a pale hand toward her swollen abdomen he continued, “You’ll have your hands full with Ron and these two. Take good care of them, yeah?”

Grasping her friend’s hand gently and pressing it to her stomach, she murmured, “Of course I will, Harry.”

The talk and emotions were wearing him out, and I moved to usher the pair out of the room, but he slowly raised his hand and shook his head slightly. “I’m alright, Sev. Just give me a minute more.”

I nodded in assent, and he turned toward Ron. “Ron—”

“No! Harry, this can’t be right! This isn’t how it’s supposed to be…”

Tears filled my Harry’s eyes even as he smiled sadly at his best friend of fifteen years. “Ron. My best mate. It’s time, my friend.” A coughing fit stopped him speaking for several minutes, and then he continued in a raspy whisper, “Take care of Hermione and those babies, Ron.”

Tears ran unchecked down Ron’s cheeks as he gently embraced Harry and choked out, “You know it, mate.”

Succumbing to tears of his own, Harry turned away and whispered, “Severus, please.” Knowing exactly what he was asking of me, I gently turned the grieving couple toward the door. 

Closing the bedroom door behind Ron and Hermione, I turned toward my husband, the man I’d been married to for far too short a time, and moved to lay beside him on our bed. Pulling him into my arms, I pressed a gentle kiss on his forehead, near the scar that was slowly leaking the dark magic he’d been filled with upon killing Voldemort. It was this magic that was stealing my husband from me, this darkness that was taking the man I loved. This darkness was what led to this solution, to this unavoidable ending.

“I’m sorry, Severus,” I heard him whisper.

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for, my Harry.”

“I don’t want to leave you.”

“I know you don’t, love.”

“But I’m glad that I won’t hurt anymore. Is that selfish?”

“Of course not, Harry. If I could have taken your pain I would have gladly done so, love.” Silent tears were steadily falling, the first tears I’d shed in over twenty years. I did not want to lose this precious soul, this man who owned my heart. At the same time, however, I knew that he would finally be at peace. Tilting his head up, I caught his lips in one last kiss, before helping him drink the potion that he’d asked me to brew. 

As the sun slowly set and his gorgeous emerald eyes dulled and then slipped closed, shadows embraced the world around us. I held him until he’d breathed his last, then gently kissed his still warm lips and murmured, “Sometimes goodbye is the only way.”


End file.
